Bimalkah (, also spelled Bmalkyeh) is a village and suburb in northwestern

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, administratively part of the

Tartus Governorate Tartus Governorate, also transliterated as Tartous Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ṭarṭūs''), is one of the 14 governorates of Syria. It is situated in western Syria, bordering Latakia Governorate to the north, Homs and Hama Governo ...

, located 10 kilometers northeast of

Tartus Tartus ( / ALA-LC: ''Ṭarṭūs''; known in the County of Tripoli as Tortosa and also transliterated from French language, French Tartous) is a major port city on the Mediterranean coast of Syria. It is the second largest port city in Syria (af ...

. Nearby localities include Dweir al-Shaykh Saad to the west, al-Shaykh Saad and al-Khreibat to the southwest, Tayshur to the southeast, al-Baqaa and

Hamin ''Hamin'' or ''dafina'' is a Sabbath stew made from whole grains, cubes of meat, chickpeas or beans, onion and cumin that emerged in Iberia among Sephardic Jews. The dish was developed as Jewish chefs, perhaps first in Iberia, began adding chi ...

to the east, Khawabi and Khirbet al-Faras to the northeast,

Awaru Awaru (; also spelled Uru) is a hamlet in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the al-Sawda municipality of the Tartus Governorate, located northeast of Tartus. Nearby localities include al-Sawda to the north, Khawabi to the east, Khirbe ...

and

al-Sawda Al-Sawda (, also spelled Sauda or al-Soda) is a town in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Tartus Governorate, located 15 kilometers northeast of Tartus. Nearby localities include Annazah to the northeast, Maten al-Sahel to the nor ...

to the north and

Husayn al-Baher Husayn al-Baher (, also spelled Husain al-Bahr or Hussein al-Baher) is a village in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Tartus Governorate, located north of Tartus. Nearby localities include Maten al-Sahel to the north, Annazah to the ...

to the northwest. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Bimalkah had a population of 817 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Tartus Governorate. The inhabitants of the village are predominantly

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

s of the

Greek Orthodox Church Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Christianity in Greece, Greek Christianity, Antiochian Greek Christians, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christian ...

or members of the

Alawite Alawites () are an Arabs, Arab ethnoreligious group who live primarily in the Levant region in West Asia and follow Alawism, a sect of Islam that splintered from early Shia as a ''ghulat'' branch during the ninth century. Alawites venerate A ...

community. Many of Tartus's wealthy

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...

families build their villas in Bimalkah as well. Together, Bimalkah, al-Khreibat and Dweir Taha (part of

municipality) make up the Christian suburbs of Tartus. During the Ottoman and French Mandate eras, the Christian residents of Bimalkah and al-Khraibet were one of the few peasant peoples of the coastal region to actually own their olive orchards unlike most other peasant communities whose lands were owned by landlords from the major coastal cities.

References

{{Tartus Governorate, tartus Populated places in Tartus District Eastern Orthodox Christian communities in Syria Greek Orthodoxy in Syria